Maycomb Revisited
by Latinpro
Summary: Scout and Jem, now adults, are forced to react to changes in their lives. New chapter up!
1. Maycomb Revisited

Maycomb County Revisited: Ad Astra Per Aspera

Maycomb County Revisited: _Ad Astra Per Aspera_

Setting: Maycomb Alabama, 1952. SCOUT has returned home from New York City, where she has been studying. JEM, on the other hand, has remained in Maycomb with their father ATTICUS. Atticus and Jem are expecting Scout to return home at any moment and wait with anticipation. Right now, Scout's cab pulls into the driveway of the Finch household. Scout steps out, picks up her baggage, and walks to the door.

Scout: Things sure have changed around here. (A handsome man opens the door; he looks like a very young Atticus. It is Jem, now 26. He invites her in.)

Jem: He-y, Scout. You sure did grow up on us in New York. (Scout blushes and looks down.) You got modest, too.

Scout: (Changing the subject) How's Atticus? Is he still here?

Jem: He could be better. Over the telephone, did he tell you what happened to Mayella Ewell?

Scout: No. What happened to her? Is she working at the O.K. Café? (Both laugh for a moment, remembering old Mrs. Dubose.)

Jem: Nah, nah. She's-you'll never believe it Scout; it all makes sense now-she's…

Atticus: (As though from far off) Jem? Who's here son? Is it Scout?

Scout: (Setting down her bags and running to Atticus in the living room.) Atticus! I missed you!

Atticus: Ah, the prodigial daughter returns! I missed you too, Scout. How was New York?

Scout: Oh, bigger than anything I ever saw! It's got big streets and all kinds of cars, noise, smog…but it wasn't my kind of place.

Atticus: Montgomery is usually big enough for me.

Jem: Tell her what happened to Mayella, Atticus.

Atticus: She's insane, Scout. The court sent her to the state asylum. Taking care of all those children after Arthur Radley got her father that night drove her out of her mind. Doctors say that she might have been that way since birth.

Scout: So Tom Robinson was just a toy to her.

Atticus: (With a gleam in his eye) Enough about Mayella. Jem, tell Scout the good news.

Jem: (With pride) You are looking at the resident attorneys-at-law of Finch and Finch, Esq. 

Scout: You passed the bar, Jem? Finally?

Jem: (Blushing) Well, I almost had to limbo it, but yeah, I'm state certified now.

Atticus: He'll be taking over soon. I'm getting too old to argue. If I wish to argue, I'll have to confine it to arguing with Alexandria or Cal.

Scout: Aunt Alexandria _still_ lives here? (Jem and Atticus both interrupt each other; Jem with a stern "Scout!" and Atticus with a weary "Yes.")

Jem: (Sighing as though exhausted) So, what are you going to do now, Scout?

Scout: (Precisely, as though she has rehearsed this in her head before) Go visit Mississippi.

Jem: What's in Mississippi?

Scout: (Innocently) A lot of things.

Jem: (Catching on) Ohhhh. _Ohhhhh._

Atticus: What are you two talking about?

Jem: (Bluntly) She wants to go to Mississippi to see Dill.

Atticus: You mean Rachel's nephew? He usually spends summer with his aunt. (Scout smiles broadly)

Jem: (Forgetting about Scout and snorting loudly) Yeah. With his wife. (Noticing Scout.) Oh Scout. I'm sorry, I forgot.

Atticus: I told you to let her know _gently_, Jem.

Scout: Oh. Then… I guess I'll go back to the city and skip Mississippi. 

Jem: But you'll stay here first, right Scout?

Scout: (Hugging Jem) Of course. (Aunt Alexandra enters)

Alexandra: Scout! You're home!

Scout: (A little uncertainly) Aunt Alexandra!

Alexandra: (Embracing her wholeheartedly) I see you grew up to be a lady. And what a lovely dress!

Scout: (Smiling broadly) Yes'm.

That Night

Setting: The Finches' yard. Jem and Scout are looking up at the stars and reminiscing.

Jem: Sure is pretty, isn't it?

Scout: Yeah. Just like when we were kids…

Jem: 13 years…

Scout: Where has the time gone?

Jem: One thing hasn't changed, though.

Scout: What's that?

Jem: The lady. The lady in the moon is still there. I think she looks like our mother.

Scout: (Bantering) Our mother is a giant mass of craters on the moon? (Jem gives her _The Look_.)

Jem: Y'know what I mean. (Pauses, waits for a reply that isn't coming.) Scout, I haven't told this to Atticus, but I… (His words come out in a blind rush) I'm going to join the Army and fight in Korea. (Scout sits shocked for a moment)

Scout: But Jem, you've got it so good here. You've got a promising job, and Atticus will help you out, and…

Jem: I know, but I don't feel like I'm doing enough. I need to do something for my country besides put people in its prisons.

Scout: How will Atticus react?

Jem: I don't know, but I'm going to Montgomery in the morning to sign up. (Seeing his sister) Aw, cheer up, Scout! I'll come back home and start practicing law again. This war can't last too long. The Commies are a real threat, but it'll be won easily.

Scout: If you have to, Jem.

Jem: Trust me on this, Scout. I know what I want to do. (Jem exits and Scout stares up at the stars.

Scout: (Crying suddenly and sniffling every once in a while) There's Cassiopeia, Hercules, Orion, Andromeda… what did Mrs. Merriweather call her play? _Ad Astra Per Aspera_?'To the stars through difficulties.' (She stands and moves to go inside. A few feet from the house, she stops suddenly and looks back up.) And then there's Perseus, the hero.


	2. The Way It Is

The Way It Is

**_The Way It Is_**

** **

**_Author's Notes:_**Well, here it is, finally. Everyone wanted a sequel, and although I'm definitely not Harper Lee in hiding, I guess we all should know what happened to Scout and the others in my little "sequel." For those of you who are kinda mad at me because MR was too short, I tried to make this a little longer, and the fact that it's a songfic might help. Anyway, here's the standard disclaimer. I don't own TKAM. I don't own "That's Just The Way It Is" either. That would be Bruce Hornsby. This is humbly dedicated to Harper Lee, Mrs. Melissa Smith (who had us write a character story and mine turned into MR); and to all the vets of the Korean War, whose sacrifices some might have forgotten.

******************************************************

_Standing in line marking time_  
_Waiting for the welfare dime  
'Cause they can't buy a job  
The man in the silk suit hurries by  
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes  
Just for fun he says "Get a job"  
  
That's just the way it is  
Some things will never change  
That's just the way it is  
But don't you believe them__  
  
__They say hey little boy you can't go  
Where the others go  
'Cause you don't look like they do  
Said hey old man how can you stand  
To think that way  
Did you really think about it  
Before you made the rules  
He said, Son  
  
That's just the way it is  
Some things will never change  
That's just the way it is  
But don't you believe them  
  
Well they passed a law in '64__  
__To give those who ain't got a little more_  
_But it only goes so far  
Because the law another's mind  
When all it sees at the hiring time  
Is the line on the color bar__  
  
__That's just the way it is  
Some things will never change  
That's just the way it is  
But don't you believe them_

******************************************************

_ _

_Scene: Maycomb, Alabama 1953. JEM has returned home from Korea to find that his father ATTICUS is not as well as he remembers him, his aunt has died from pneumonia, and that their housekeeper CAL has moved because the city has bought out her land and is now building a drive-in on it. He sees that SCOUT has gone back to New York to finish her schooling._

******************************************************

(Atticus and Jem are in the living room, Atticus is reading the _Maycomb Tribune_ and Jem is standing at where the audience can partly see him. He is dressed in a military uniform, his left leg is oddly different, and has a black eye and several bruises. He is standing by use of a crutch, and there is no possible way he can move his trunk that has been tossed haphazardly beside him.)

Jem: Still can't move this piece of junk.

Atticus: Jem? Are you going down to the VFW today? Cecil Jacobs called for you earlier to see if you wanted to play cards with some of the others.

Jem: No, my leg's still hurting too badly.

Atticus: (Puts down his paper) I've been meaning to ask you. How did you receive that anyway, Jem?

Jem: (A long pause) Skirmish in Seoul. Shrapnel from a building that was blown up by Northern guerillas.

Atticus: (Softly) And how long ago was it?

Jem: (Even more quiet than Atticus) About six months ago. I still can't use my leg.

Atticus: (Folds the paper and gets up slowly to sit next to Jem.) Oh, son, I shouldn't have let you go.

Jem: No, no Atticus. If anyone should be to blame, it's me. It was my choosing to go there and almost get my fool head blown clean off. I should have been paying more attention. I was… trying to get a four year old girl… to move away from her family. They were… used as examples. Her mother told me in pidgin to take her away from it, that massacre. Then the Reds detonated a bomb, a trap for us. I pushed that girl behind me, and I caught all the shrapnel. Oh, Atticus, that girl just looked so much like Scout did, when Momma… (Jem stops abruptly and stands up.) A little game of poker sounds good right now. I'll go and see who's there.

Atticus: Jem, you don't have to go if you don't want to. Scout's coming in to see you tonight, if you want to pick her up at the station.

Jem: (A little bitterly) You don't think she'll give me an 'I-told-you-so?' 

Atticus: She's your sister, Jem. She's not going to give you that. I'll bring her home, you stay here and rest that leg.

Jem: No, Atticus. No, I'll find her. I'm also meeting an old friend there.

Later, at the local VFW

(Jem steps in and takes off his cap. We can finally see his uniform clearly- that of a lieutenant. He limps heavily even with the crutch and walks to where several people, including Cecil Jacobs, are playing cards.)

Jem: Hey, fellows. Mind if I join in?

Cecil: He-y, if it ain't our hometown hero! Lieutenant Jem Finch! I'll be!

Jem: Cut it out, Cecil, you're a hero too. You were there.

Cecil: Not as much as you, Jem. I wasn't promoted to a high rank, I'm just a PFC. Here, take a seat. We're just getting ready to play a new hand. (They deal him in and begin to play draw poker. An hour soon passes, with Jem gaining $10 and Cecil $15.)

Jem: Pleasure playing with you boys, but I've got to go pick up my sister. 

Cecil: Where is Scout, anyway? What's she up to?

Jem: Off in New York City, shipping defense machinery.

Cecil: She was makin' the guns we used?

Jem: More like she saw that the inventory got to distribution.

Cecil: You want me to go with you? I haven't seen Scout in forever.

Jem: That's okay, Cecil, I'm sure I'll find her fine. I'll tell her you asked. (Jem exits and Cecil turns to the other card players.)

Cecil: You boys ever heard of Jem Finch? (They respond with various "no's.") No, huh? Well, when he was a boy, Bob Ewell tried to kill him and his sister Scout right after their father defended Tom Robinson. Arthur Radley saved them and Bob Ewell fell onto his knife in a drunken stupor. Jem broke his arm, and it was pretty traumatic for him. Big to-do about it in the town for months. Jem and Scout grew up, and Scout accepted a scholarship from somewhere in New York for writing. Jem went off to Korea and lost use of his left leg. I was there with him, he tried to save some little Korean girl and they both got sent over a ditch from a Commie blast. She fell hard and landed on a piece of metal. He ran to her and started hallucinating, thinking that old Bob Ewell had finally gotten his sister. Jem passed out then and we dragged him to a MASH. He woke up then, found that the girl was now an orphan, and that there was a good chance that he may never use his left leg again. He was awarded a Purple Heart and all sorts of other medals, then they honorably discharged him and shipped him back home. He's been in town a week. 

(Cecil looks back toward the door.) Too bad. He used to be a really nice guy.

The Train Station

(A train is heard in the background. A few moments later, one pulls into the station. Scout steps off with a trunk and looks around. Jem is not seen anywhere. Only one man is around, standing under the station's overhand. He is rather short for a grown man and has light blond hair visible even in the dark. Scout starts walking toward him slowly.)

Scout: Excuse me, have you seen Lieutenant Jeremy Finch anywhere?

Man: Jem? Yeah, I'm waiting for him. He's supposed to meet me. Is he your husband?

Scout: No, he's my brother.

Man: (Surprised, but barely) You're Jean Louise Finch?

Scout: Yes, why? Are you from around here?

Man: You could say that. (A car pulls up and Jem steps out slowly. He slowly limps over toward the two.)

Jem: Hey, Scout.

Scout: Jem! What happened?

Jem: Tell you later. Atticus really misses you.

Scout: What about you?

Jem: Of course. (Turns to the man.) Good to see you again. Can you help me with the trunk?

Man: Certainly. (He steps out of the overhang, but Scout is already in the car and doesn't see who it is.) 

Jem: Y'know, I've got one at home like this I need help with. Can you move it for me?

Man: No problem, Jem. I bet Atticus is still shocked?

Jem: No, I think he really got used to Maude. Scout didn't take it too well.

Man: I didn't want to hurt her.

Jem: Of course you didn't. Where is Maude anyway?

Man: She's coming tomorrow. 

Jem: Maybe she and Scout could be friends.

Man: I highly doubt it, after what happened.

The Finch Household

(Jem pulls the car into the drive and parks it. He drives with his right foot only. Scout goes inside and says her hellos to Atticus. Jem's friend gets Scout's trunk and they all enter. He sets it down with a thud. Atticus and Scout walk in to see about Jem and his friend.)

Atticus: Hello Jem. Did you have a good poker session?

Jem: Won ten bucks from the guys. Cecil plays a mean hand.

Scout: Cecil Jacobs? He lives around here?

Jem: Yeah, just around the street. He was in my platoon in Seoul. That's a whole other story. 

Atticus: And it's good to see you again, Dill. How's Maude? (Scout turns various shades of red, white, purple, and finally white again.)

Dill: (Blushing furiously) Maude's fine. She's coming in tomorrow. Aunt Rachel wanted to see how the baby was doing, so we came down for a few days. But we're-

Scout: (Interrupting) Dill, you're back.

Dill: Hey, Scout. I meant to send you a letter or visit you in New York, but I thought that you'd forgotten about me. I'm sorry. I know that's weak and it won't cover it, but I really am.

Scout: (Almost in tears and her voice is raised significantly) Charles Baker Harris, I turned down two marriage proposals waiting for you! I met a rich man, but I had to tell him that there was already someone. Then there was a major with distinction…but I told him as well that I was spoken for! Then I come home and Jem says that you're married! And you didn't even bother to look me up!

Dill: New York is a big city! And besides-

Scout: They have phone books! And then you come here, into my own home, and say that _you're_ sorry? I'm sorry all right… sorry I ever met you in the first place! (Scout leaves toward her room.)

Jem: I apologize for that, Dill. I'll go get her.

Dill: No Jem, it's all right. I deserved that. I should have at least told her in person. So, where's that trunk? Maybe now you can change out of your uniform. (He tries to crack a smile.) You know what I do in my spare time? I make balloon animals for kids. It's the closest I could come to being a clown. This world needs more laughter.

Later that Night

(Scout is sitting in her bedroom and is looking over several papers, either for school or her work. The door opens, Jem walks in and sits down next to her.)

Jem: What are you looking at?

Scout: Oh, nothing. Just some invoices and orders. Did Atticus send you up here?

Jem: No. He understands how you feel. But I think you should have handled it a little better.

Scout: You heard what I told him. I've waited for so long for word. If I knew then what I know now-

Jem: Hindsight is 20/20. Don't think about it. Do you have their addresses? Go for the rich guy. You wouldn't like army bases. 

Scout: Is that how you were wounded? 

Jem: Yep. It will never work right again, but there's always a chance. Oh well, that's life. People change for better or worse, Scout, and there's nothing we can do about it. The world just keeps spinning and we keep getting older. Life has it's ups and downs. You know, I thought for sure that the entire world was corrupt during the trial, but through all the taunts and teases up until the verdict, I thought that there had to be at least a scrap of mercy, justice, or goodness in the world. I wasn't exactly wrong, but I wasn't exactly right. But when I was overseas, I found a whole new way of life that just made the Depression look like fine living. (Fleers softly) I thought I'd seen it all during a patrol on the Yalu when I first got there, but Seoul made me realize the extremes people will go to when they believe in something. 

Scout: Jem, why did you go off in the first place?

Jem: Because I became idealistic when I started wearing fedoras and Brylcreem to work. I thought I could make a difference. But what can one man do?

Scout: As much as he sets out to do. (Jem stares at her for a moment oddly and stands up)

Jem: Be nice to Dill. You've known him too long. Besides, he's like family.

Scout: I don't want to think about it like that. I don't want to ever see him again. I don't want to see his family or anyone else.

Jem: Don't act like you've been spoiled, Scout. Just because Cal isn't here, that doesn't mean that you can start being hard-headed on us. I don't care if you're 2 or 22. (Scout mutters something that sounds like "Hit you if I could" under her breath. Jem rolls his eyes and exits.)

The Next Morning

(At the kitchen table, Jem, Atticus, and Dill are having breakfast. Scout's chair is, of course, empty.)

Dill: Maybe I should go and leave her in peace.

Jem: Dill, you don't have to. She's just being spoiled-

Dill: No, Jem, you don't understand. When we were in high school, during the last visit, I wrote her a note and said that as soon as I got enough money, I'd move here to Maycomb and we'd get married someday. When she wrote me to say that she'd accepted a scholarship to New York, I thought she had told me 'no' in the most tactful way possible. I forgot all about that promise, went to Jackson, met and married Maude, and now we've got a baby and everything's complicated. I can't come here again.

Atticus: Why not?

Dill: Aunt Rachel's health is fading and I've got a child to feed and a wife to support. Aunt Rachel is going to move in with me in Mississippi. Besides, I really can't afford the fares anymore. 

Jem: Stay in touch, will you? (Dill nods as Scout walks in.)

Scout: (Slightly stiff) Good morning. What's for breakfast?

Jem: Biscuits, gravy, sausage, the works. Help yourself. 

Atticus: Scout, what are your plans for today?

Scout: I don't have any, but I've got to buy a return ticket. I was reading over some invoices last night, and the Army wants all these weapons as soon as possible. So I'll be leaving tomorrow. Maybe tonight, I'll have to check.

Jem: You really have to go so soon? I mean, you usually stay for forever and keep us company.

Scout: Yes, but I've got to work out a living.

Jem: Can you drive me to the doctor? He wants to see me.

Dill: I'd better be going. I'll see you later tonight. (He tries to make eye contact with Scout, but her attention is focused on the sausage.)

Jem: Well, I don't want to go into town today.

Scout: Why not?

Jem: All the mothers are trying to set me up with their daughters. I keep trying to tell them that I'm not interested right now, but they just don't listen.

Atticus: Son, I was in that predicament once, and all I can say is 'Good Luck.'

Much Later that Day

Atticus: Good news?

Jem: There's a 90/10 that I'll have a useless leg. They found more metal in it, and that's just a souvenir I'll have to carry around for the rest of my life. But I'll resume our practice in a few weeks, crutch or cane or not. 

Scout: And I'm leaving at 9 tonight. Dill's taking me up to the station. I promise I'll come back sooner and longer next time, but those requests just can't be ignored. 

Atticus: You and Dill are back on speaking terms?

Scout: In a way. I've got to pack; he'll be here in half an hour. Oh, and we dropped by to see Aunt Alexandra. (Scout leaves.)

Atticus: What's going on Jem?

Jem: Sure beats me, Atticus. Last night and this morning, Scout and Dill were not even speaking about one another, and then when I come out, they're all friendly and talking again. Then she planted a rose bush by Auntie. I'll never understand my sister.

Atticus: I think you understand her better than you think. Oh, what's next in this town? Rachel's moving to Meridian, Scout's going back North, I'm getting old, you're going to be our first lawyer with a war record.

Jem: Well, I thought about wearing my hair in a pompadour or a D.A. and buying a T-shirt and engineer boots, but that wouldn't look as good as my suits.

Atticus: You'd be Maycomb's oldest greaser. I wouldn't try it, if you want to keep your license. (Thirty minutes pass quickly and Scout has packed her luggage and hauled it to the entryway. Dill pulls up in his car and loads up her things.)

Jem: Goodbye, Scout, I'll see you when you come down next.

Scout: Goodbye, Jem. I'll write to you. Bye Atticus, and keep watch over Jem and make sure he doesn't work too hard.

Atticus: I can't guarantee that, Scout, but you should follow that advice. (Scout and Dill leave for his car, get in, and drive away.)

Dill: I'm sorry Scout, I wanted to tell you that. I'm glad you decided to talk to me today.

Scout: Dill, if I had known that you thought that I forgot, then I wouldn't have acted that way. I'm also sorry. 

Dill: We're even then.

Scout: Tell me about Maude. She must be very lucky. Wasn't she coming?

Dill: Well, not really. Not anymore, that is.

Scout: What do you mean?

Dill: We're getting a divorce. She's keeping our son Charlie. She says that I don't make enough money to keep her alive. And I have to partly agree, I don't make as much as most fellows, but surely she could survive if she had wanted to work with me.

Scout: Oh, Dill, I'm so sorry about that. Why didn't you say something?

Dill: I tried to last night, but I was, uh, interrupted. Anyway, I have to support her, so I've really got to get a better paying job.

Scout: I make quite a bit working for defense. We've got several job openings in my office.

Dill: Let me look locally first, and if I can't find anything, I'll call you. What _is_ your address, by the way? (Scout laughs as she pulls out a pen and pad from her purse.)

Scout: Hey, Dill?

Dill: Yeah?

Scout: Is that offer from high school still available? (Dill is silent a moment, then takes her hand.)

Dill: Yeah.

At the Finches

(On the front porch)

Jem: Hey Atticus, do you think I'll ever be back to normal?

Atticus: I think so. People can change for the better. 

Jem: I don't want to be a hero anymore.

Atticus: What do you mean?

Jem: Everyone I run into just thinks of me as the vet that came back with a leg full of building. I want them to just forget about what happened in the war and remember what happened when we were growing up. Even Scout said I was like Perseus the hero. I don't want to be anyone's hero anymore. I just want to be Jem Finch.

Atticus: You always have been Jem Finch, and you always will be. Like I said, people are always changing. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Jem: (Continuing) Do you know what they called me?

Atticus: Tell me.

Jem: (With an almost-sly grin) 'One-shot' Finch.

Atticus: (Mock weariness) Oh, the sins of the father fall upon the son.

Jem: Cecil started it. They were taking pot-shots at cans and birds, and I told 'em that mockingbird bit you told me and Scout. They all thought that was hilarious, and then Cecil called me 'One-shot,' and it stuck. 

Atticus: I'm going inside, Jem. The mosquitoes are getting bad. (Atticus goes inside and Jem then limps out into the yard and slowly and painfully climbs the first sturdy and low limb of the tree.)

Jem: (Looking up at the stars) It's been almost a year and a half since I signed up, and Scout and I were lookin' at the stars like this. (Finds various constellations) Hey, Perseus. You're in good company.


End file.
